Friday, 15 January 2016

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Good Night, Sleep Tight is a masterful picture book from Australian powerhouse Mem Fox. I was intrigued by this book after I heard Mem speak about it and some of her other books at the Mudgee Readers Festival in 2013.

Mem is a great exponent of children's literacy and she wrote Good Night, Sleep Tight after she heard the fact that if a child knew 6 nursery rhymes by heart by the age of 4 then they would be in the top reading group by age 8. So she wrote a story with 7 nursery rhymes embedded within it, the six necessary ones, and a spare one - just in case. And it works really well.

wonderful bright Judy Horacek illustrations

Parents will remember most of these rhymes from their own childhood, although there was one that was completely new to me, and the rhyming repetitive link Mem has written has perfect Mem Fox cadence.

'We love it, we love it!' said Bonnie and Ben.
'How does it go? Will you say it again?'

Good Night, Sleep Tight is a perfect gift for new babies. It comes in a sturdy board book format too, to stand up to the many readings that will ensue. Even picture books can have fascinating back stories, Good Night, Sleep Tight was originally published in 1998, and then spent many years out of print before being brought back by a father's request.